Warriors: Moonslash's Story
by LionStory
Summary: My new Warriors story, I had to abandon the other one. My apologies for the shortness, please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Six months ago, in ShadowClan territory, a kit was born. He was purely black, except for his ears, tail, paws and eyes. They were silver. His mother, Flightclaw, died while having him.

He is the son of Blackstar. This is his story.


	2. New Apprentices

Moonkit was watching the other ShadowClan apprentices head out to training with their mentors. He longed to join them now, but reconciled with himself that he would be an apprentice soon.

_I wonder who Blackstar will appoint to be my mentor, _ he thought. _I hope I get a warrior like Hailfur. She's so good at fighting; I've never seen her lose._

Just then he realized that Hailfur was already mentoring Duskpaw, a charcoal colored apprentice with amber eyes. _So much for that, _he thought. _But what about Sleetface? _Sleetface was a shade of gray like clouds after a heavy rain. He was known to be an excellent mentor, have trained the beautiful and skilled Cyprusclaw.

_Oh well, I guess it's all up to Blackstar to decide,_ he concluded.

"Moonkit! Where are you?" yelled a frantic voice. Moonkit turned around. He recognized the voice of his foster mother, Rosethorn. Her red tabby pelt was so pale that it was almost pink.

She was always worried for him, and although Moonkit knew her intentions were good, he hoped that one day she'd let him go.

But for now, he was still a kit, and he had to do what she said.

He got up and walked toward the nursery. Rosethorn's head was stuck inside, her tail lashing with anxiety. "Moonkit!Moonkit!"

"Calm down, Mom, I'm right here. What do you need?" Rosethorn drew her head out from the nursery. "Oh, there you are. Come with me, we have something to talk about."

She turned around and walked towards the camp boundaries. Moonkit followed, wandering what he could mean. Rosethorn finally stopped just outside camp. She sat down, her green eyes deadly serious. The black and silver kit sat down in front of her, hoping he wasn't in trouble. "What's going on?" he asked. "You're starting to scare me.

The pale red she-cat took a deep breath before beginning. Then she started to speak. "Moonkit, you will be an apprentice in just days. You know that the easy life of a kit will be over, right?"

Moonkit nodded.

"I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm just warning you. But that's not really why I brought you out here. Why I brought you out here is this: the other kits say you won't play with them. All you do is watch the warriors. Are you really that desperate to become one?" she asked.

Moonkit nodded.

"It's good that you want to be a warrior, but please play with the others. You should enjoy being a kit."

"Ok, Mom, I'll play with Thistlekit and the others. I just don't like Whirlkit. She has too much energy, and she's always bouncing on me!"

Rosethorn laughed. "Whirlkit's mother had a lot of energy when she was young too. I'll talk to Blackstar, and see when your apprentice ceremony is. Mind you, you'll probably be named with Whilrkit."

"That's fine," decided Moonkit. But he was actually thinking, _Whirlkit!? Argh!_

Four days later, Moonkit had been groomed until sunhigh. He hoped that he looked all right. He glanced over at Whirlkit, who was being washed as well, and was surprised to see that she had managed to contain herself. _Wow, that must be killing her, _he thought.

On the other side of camp, he saw Blackstar leaving his den and climbing up Hightree.

"Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey gather at Hightree for an apprentice ceremony," he howled.

Cats streamed toward the tree, often stopping to congratulate Whirlkit and Moonkit. The black and silver kit's heart was beating like a bluejay's wing. He and Rosethorn walked to hightree. Whirlkit bounced. They stopped directly under Blackstar's charismatic gaze.

"We are here today to name two new apprentices, two new warriors in training. We will start by naming Whirlkit." He turned toward the kit. Moonkit had never noticed before today, because it had always been dirty, just how beautiful Whirlkit's coat was. It was a swirling pattern of grays and almost bues.

"Whirlkit, do you solemnly promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and serve your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Whirlkit pomised," I do."

"Then from this day forward until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Whirlpaw. You will be mentored by the warrior Sleetface. He is a strong warrior, and will mentor you well."

Whirlkit wobbled to Sleetface and touched noses with him.

The cloud-gray warrior looked pleased to have another apprentice.

Blackstar turned to his son. Moonkit felt tiny under his father's eyes. "Moonkit, do you solemnly promise to uphold the warrior code, protect and serve your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Moonkit took a trembling breath. "I do," he said.

"Then from this day forward, until you should receive your warrior name, you will be called Moonpaw." Blackstar turned to look at the warriors. "Cyprusclaw, since you have never had an apprentice before, you will mentor Moonpaw."

Moonpaw awkwardly touched noses with his mentor, who looked surprised and worried. The new apprenices turned to face the crowd of cats, who began yowling their new names.

"Moonpaw! Whirlpaw!" Then the ceremony was over, and Moonpaw's apprentice life had begun.


	3. Chapter 3

Blackstar looked surprised. He took in Tao's huge blue eyes, her strange coat, her supple muscles.

"Tao, why don't you tell me your story," he suggested.

"Should I leave?" asked Moonpaw.

"No, Moonpaw, I'd like you to stay. You met her first." Tao told her story, right up to entering the camp. "I feel like I'm supposed to join your Clan," she finished.

"Tao, this is a difficult decision for me. I want to help you, really, but I've made my feelings about letting outsiders join, kittypets, rogues, loners. They are not Clan cats."

" But Blackstar, she _is _from a Clan, SunClan! So that means Firestar can't say you're a hypocrite."

"You make a good point, Moonpaw, but just being Clanborn isn't enough. Can you fight, Tao?" asked Blackstar.

"Yes, I was an apprenticeM moving along fast," she answered.

"Good then. I have a task for you. If you suceed with it, you can join the Clan. Does that seem fair to you?"

"Yes," meowed Tao, determination in her eyes.

"Then listen closely to me. We are at war with ThunderClan. Those kittypet fools think that we are stealing prey. This is not true. We have more than enough. I've decided to launch an attack to end this war. So far, we've only been on the defensive side. But now we will attack. We are ShadowClan. When we attack, I want you to attack the ThunderClan medicine cat!"

Tao looked confused. "Oh," she said a moment later. "You mean a Healer. Why?"

"Last night, I was dreaming. In my dream, the ancestors of ShadowClan, TigerClan, came down from StarClan to speak with me. Oddly enough, they told me of a brown faced warrior who would be coming to join my Clan. As they were fading away, I saw the ThunderClan medicine cat slip into the trees. I gave chase, but then I was woken up. I want revenge on him. He had no right to be spying on my dreams," Blackstar finished.

Moonpaw could see that Tao was thinking hard.

Tao didn't think it was right to attack a healer. In her Clan, it was punishable by banishment. But she knew the spirits wanted her in ShadowClan, so she knew she had to do it.

" All right, I'll attack him. But should I kill hasked she asked.

"No, just leave him with a few serious wounds. I never want him in my dreams again. That little fox is spying for Firestar."

The next day was perfect for their attack. It was raining heavily; their smell would be well disguised.

Tao, instead of trying to stay dry while they prepared for the attack like everyone else, was standing in the middle of the clearing, her head tilted up to the rain.

Yesterday, Blackstar had named her an apprentice. He had taken her on himself as her mentor.

Moonpaw padded out to her, shuddering as the rain touched his pelt.

"Tao, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Basking in the rain, what else?"

"Most cats would rather clean the elders than do that."

"Strange, whenever it rained in SunClan, we all stood in it. "

"Well, come on, the attack patrol is just leaving."

Tao followed him to the large group of warriors standing by the edge of the camp. She lashed her tail in anticipation, a strange gleam in her eyes. The band traveled across the forest, making sure once they crossed ThunderClan territory to keep an eye out for any patrols.

Once they reached the camp boundaries, Blackstar had them go around to the other side if the camp, to the cliffs. They crouched, ready to spring down on the unsuspecting cats below.

"Now," breathed Blackstar.


	4. The Attack

The attacking ShadowClan warriors exploded from the cliffs in a yowling fury.

They leapt onto the cats below, who were taken completely by surprise. Tao looked around for a gray tabby, trying to pick him out. He was over by the medicine den.

She didn't hesitate. Tao leapt like TigerClan, landing behind Jayfeather. He spun around at the sound of her landing, but she didn't give him time to fight. She clawed his face, then leapt around to batter him with her hind legs.

Moonpaw had his paws full with the ThunderClan deputy, but from want he had seen of her fighting, Tao was unlike any warrior he had seen before.

Her style of fighting involved a lot of leaping and jumping.

She was like a bolt of lightning, whipping around, never giving Jayfeather time to swipe back.

Whirlpaw was doing pretty well too, as well as her brother, Thistlepaw.

Suddenly, Moonpaw noticed the ThunderClan warrior, Lionblaze, streaking toward Tao.

"Tao!" he yowled, "Behind you!" Tao whipped around just in time. She leapt straight up, causing Lionblaze to collide with his brother, stunning them both.

In an instant, Tao what brought her swift claws down on Lionblaze's face.

Then she attacked with a passion. Her eyes grew red, and she began lashing out at Lionblaze, slashing him hard, leaping back and forth.

Mmonpaw noticed his father beckoning him, signaling that it was time to leave.

"Tao," he called.

The brown and white she-cat looked up. The red faded from her eyes. She nodded, then threw Jayfeather by the scruff into his den. Then she ran out of the camp with Moonpaw.

The attack patrol reached the ShadowClan camp, breathing hard, but jubilant.

Many of the warriors clustered around Tao, congratulating her on completing her mission.

Moonpaw thrusted his way through to give her a friendly nose touch.

"Tao, where in StarClan did you learn to fight like that?" he asked.

"Well, my Clan must teach different techniques than yours, because that's normal for us. We have a saying: Strike First, Slash Hard, and Blind the Enemy."

Blackstar came toward her. All the other cats cleared the way for their leader.

Tao dipped her head respectfully. "You have done as I asked, and admirably, too. Tao of SunClan, you are now a full member of ShadowClan, and are an apprentice. You will need a mentor."

Blackstar looked thoughtful for a moment.

"It's been a while since I took on an apprentice. I will train you in all the fighting ways of ShadowClan, and guide you to being a warrior. Tao, welcome to ShadowClan."

The whole Clan took up chanting her name. Moonpaw felt happy. He had wanted his father to accept Tao. He had thought she looked a little crazy at first, but then she had straightened herself out.

She came up to Moonpaw, and gave him a friendly shove with her shoulder.

"Thanks for leading me here," she said gratefully.

"No problem, you're amazing!"

"Thanks, but in my Clan, that was basic apprentice training. But you were doing good there too."

The two looked out over their Clan. The sun was going down, and everyone was going to the medicine den. Littlecloud looked happy at the few injuries.

"Are you hurt?" asked Moonpaw.

"Me? No, you?"

"I'm ok. Let's fog to the den, see Whirlpaw and Thistlepaw. "

They crossed the clearing to the apprentice's den, where the other three apprentices were making nests. The nest looked much bigger, because Duskpaw had moved out upon becoming Duskcloud.

Moonpaw was tired. The attack had worn him out. Tao had already made a nest and settled down in it.

Moonpaw then realized: the Gathering was tomorrow night.

He wondered if he would get to go.


End file.
